Here is a fun Bible story game about King Saul for preschoolers.
God anointed Saul to be the first king of Israel. What an honor this was for this handsome young man, but what a horrible demise he ended up enduring! Your preschoolers may not be ready to hear about all the difficult parts about Saul’s life, but they are ready to know and understand that Saul was the first king of God’s favored land. Here is a fun game/art activity about King Saul for preschoolers to help them remember that Saul was God’s first pick for king. It will also help reinforce colors and the concepts of first, second and third.
Here’s what you do:
Give a copy of the crown I have provided below for you to each child. I suggest printing them onto yellow or gold construction paper. Next, collect a variety of colors of “gems” with which to decorate Saul’s crown. For ease, I suggest you purchase a bucket of foam shapes. I’ve seen these for sale at craft stores. I think you can also find them online at www.orientaltrading.com. Give each child one color of each “gem”. Make sure all the children have the same number of “gems”. Give each child a glue stick if you feel comfortable doing so. Otherwise, you can be the holder of the glue stick until you need it. Finally, print each of the pictures, found below, of the 3 kings and laminate them for long-term use: Saul, David and Solomon.
Here’s how to play:
Tell your children the following: Today we are going to learn about the first king of Israel. His name was Saul.
(Show picture of Saul.) The Bible says that Saul was very tall and handsome. The people of Israel wanted to have a king. So, God said that He would make Saul the first king of Israel. (Hold up one finger.)
When Saul became king, he probably wore a wonderful crown filled with lots of beautiful gems. Today we are going to make Saul’s crown. (Show the children a crown that you have made beforehand.) What colors of gems do you see on Saul’s crown? (Let the children respond with the names of different colors.) Each of you have some “gems” that you are going to place on Saul’s crown as we play a little game.
I’m going to ask one of you to pick a color of gem that you see on King Saul’s crown. We are then going to look around the room and try and point out other things that are that color also. Once we have found 2 or 3 things the color we are looking for, we will then go over to our crowns and glue on a gem that is the same color. (For example, if “Daniel” picks the red gem on the crown, the class must now look around for things in the room that are red. Give 2 or 3 children the chance to point them out. After some red objects are found, have the children go back to their seat and add the red gem to King Saul’s crown. Play this way until all the gems have been placed on their crowns.)
Attach or staple the 2 ends of the crown so that the children can wear them.
Finish the lesson by saying the following:
Today we learned that God made Saul the first king of Israel. Does anyone know who was the second king of Israel? (Let children make a guess.) David became the second king of Israel. (Show picture of David and then hold up 2 fingers.) Saul was the first king. (Show picture of Saul again and hold up one finger.) Who was the first king of Israel? (Let children respond.) Who was the second king of Israel? (Let children respond.) Does anyone know who the third (hold up 3 fingers) king of Israel was? (Let children make a guess.) The third king of Israel was David’s son, Solomon. (Show picture of Solomon.) Saul was the first king. (Show Saul.) David was the second king. (Show David.) And Solomon was the third king. (Show Solomon.)
Proceed to question the children about who was the first, second and third king of Israel. You might want to mix the pictures up to see if the children remember which king was first, second or third.
You may feel that introducing the third king might be too difficult for your children. This is OK. Just show them Saul and David to help them understand the concepts of first and second.
Above all, remember to have fun!
Printables:
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Deuteronomy 11:1
Great job!